Swaziland Celebrates The Incwala Festival

World Travel

Swaziland

Heralding the New Year, the Incwala Festival, the most important annual cultural event in Swaziland

The Kingdom of Swaziland, well known for its many cultural festivals will celebrate the Incwala Festival from today until mid-January. The event is one of the last remaining examples of what was previously in practice in many African countries. Often translated as “First Fruits Festival” the tasting of the first of the season bounty by the King is only one part of this long ritual.

The main Incwala takes place in the Royal Kraal for four days from the new harvest after the full moon nearest the December 21st (summer solstice) and visitors interested in Swaziland culture are always welcome to attend, but are required to respect traditions.

The event is a celebration that unites the country, helps gain the blessing of ancestors, sanctifies the kingship, and celebrates the beginning of the harvest season. A sequence of 4 days culminates on 18th of December’s Big Incwala, which is the major day of the festival. On this day feasting and dancing reach a climax, with thousands of people thronging the royal parade grounds. The ceremony ends when the King of Swaziland, Mswati III, in full ceremonial dress, joins his warriors in the traditional dance and enters a special sanctuary to eat the first fruits of the season. The songs, dances and time-honoured rituals that take place inside the Royal Kraal remain a matter of utmost secrecy and may not be recorded or written down.

The final day of the Festival signifies the end of the old year and welcomes the year to come. Regiments march to a forest and return with wood, which forms a central fire in the cattle byre. Objects are burnt and dancers celebrate the future to come.

Incwala Festival takes place every year around the last week of December / first week of January depending on the lunar cycle. The dates for the event are only released relatively close to the time as they derive from ancestral astrology.